News

Tuesday, 04 July, 2017

Nation Leadership Forum – Kenyan Elections:Voters and Leadership

The Nation Media Group on 29th June hosted the second edition of The Nation Leadership Forum at the University of Nairobi Auditorium. The forum is a platform created to spotlight issues affecting Kenyans through provoking international, regional and local discussions, shaping opinions and policy directions critical to the development and growth of Kenya. With the General Elections quickly approaching, this forum’s theme was around Kenyan Elections: Voters and Leadership, with four key subtopics being focused on i.e.

Elections Management and Preparedness

Economies of Elections

Peaceful and Credible Elections

Voters Civic Responsibilities

In attendance were key elections stakeholders such as the IEBC Chair, Mr Wafula Chebukati, and Inspector General of Police, Joseph Boinett, both of whom were put to task about the preparedness of their bodies to deliver a credible and peaceful election. The audience was especially interested in the voter register, released on the same day as the forum, civic education for citizens who were voting for the first time and the safety of the voter, officials and security personnel on the day of the election and thereafter.

The panel of the day consisted of a broad range of expertise and interests with representation from the voter from Migingo named Florence Ogur, a private sector captain of industry-Sumayya Hassan, the CEO at Azure Energy, academia represented by Prof. Karuti Kanyinga of the University of Nairobi, civil society represented by the Chair of the Elections Observation Group Regina Opondo and finally the IEBC Chair, Mr Wafula Chebukati. The session was moderated by Linus Kaikai, a veteran in the media industry who fielded questions to and from the panel and the audience.

With an assorted panel and audience, various issues were discussed and debated such as the political mind frame of the country, the road to credible elections, the impact of the election period on businesses across the country, how to deal with hate speech from the country’s leaders, or those vying for leadership, among other topics. The forum proved to be an invaluable opportunity for the different stakeholders to dialogue and raise pertinent issues around the topic at hand.

In his remarks, the Nation Media Group’s CEO noted that the organisation began the leadership forum because it was high time that NMG created an environment where conversations like those are held by all stakeholders. “I’m very delighted that we have assembled this worthwhile forum to have discussions where people who have issues can raise them in a fruitful discussion,” he said.